fernweh
The comments work now; I can see them.
Husum, 2:19 pm
I find it incredibly hard to believe that I haven't even been here a week yet. It feels like at least three. But so far it's been terrific. I can understand most of what I hear, unless it's really technical or too fast, like on TV or something. My speaking is getting better, and the host families are good about helping me say stuff.
We're in our second host families' houses now, in Husum, a smaller town not too far from Lübeck (about 20,000 people). My family here (we're by ourselves this time) has three sons: Yannik is 9, Niko 11, and Finn 15. Kids can be easier to understand, when they don't speak incredibly fast, because they speak simpler German. Yanni is the funniest. He told me at dinner last night that I looked "etwas dick" (kind of fat) from far away, but when he saw me closer up he changed his mind and assures me I'm not fat, although his brother is. His mom was a bit chagrined, but we all laughed. The kids also think it's funny that I eat with my fork in my right hand and my left hand on my lap. Germans eat everything with fork
and knife, fork in left hand and knife in right. Yanni has decided to eat like an American while I'm here, and he struggles to use the fork with his right hand. They were also confused as to how I get the last pieces of vegetable on my fork if I don't use my knife to push them on.
Last night Yanni and Niko and I went outside and did some firecrackers--sparklers and snaps. It's only legal to buy fireworks on New Year's, so the Germans buy a million and light them off all night long. We were in Lübeck for New Year's Eve, and starting at 4 pm or so the kids start lighting firecrackers in the streets--these narrow, cobblestone streets lined with houses and cars. Later that night we had to be a little careful walking around, cause they throw these firecrackers with abandon (out 2nd story windows sometimes), and they're not all that small. The next morning the streets were covered with paper and cardboard from the night before.
We spent most of our time in Lübeck in the Old City, not a long walk from the youth hostel. It was absolutely beautiful, and the mixing of old and new was really neat. It's not like American historical sites where everything is a reenactment of the time; in Lübeck there are still services in these centuries-old churches (we went to one) and they still use the incredibly ornamental Rathaus (government building). I have a million things to say about Lübeck but not enough time now (we're meeting the group again at 3) so I'll have to do it later.
In between Hoogstede and Lübeck we were in Hamburg for an afternoon. Not near enough time to see the 2nd biggest city in Germany, but we got to walk around the "downtown" area, a big shopping district with stores like Versace, Hugo, Swatch, and go into the St. Peter Church. On the street we saw and organ grinder and a saxophonist playing for tips, and a group of people dancing to what sounded like old Jewish music. They wanted us to come join their community in the south of Germany where they live like the early Christians.
I can't write enough about this trip--there are so many different aspects from which to look at the experience. The group of Americans itself (which is an odd assortment, but great really); the German people individually and as a whole; my grasp of the language; the cultural and historical and religious differences (today we had a discussion with a German pastor); and just the things I'm seeing and hearing. I'm taking lots of pictures, but of course they can't do it justice.
Must go now, but I'll be back later... Tschuss!
Is the comments link appearing? I can't see it and wonder if it's this computer, cause it worked before I left...guess you'll have to email me.
Hoogstede, 5:30 pm
Okay, I'm back and have more time to type today...hopefully I can tell you some stuff now so I don't have to try to remember all of it when I come back.
About this keyboard, by the way...the 'y' and 'z' are switched, so I keep typing "mz" and "todaz" etc. And other symbols that aren't used in German very much--quotation marks, apostrophes--are in different places; you have to use shift (which is in a different place too and I keep missing it) and 2 for ". And there are keys for all the umlauts: ö ü ä. It took me and Jonathan (the other Calvin student living with this family) five minutes to figure out how to make "@" yesterday.
The traffic lights here have a yellow before red changes to green as well as one before green changes to red. Germans do drive on the right side of the road, by the way--it's only British who drive on the left. What else...the lightswitches are all the kind where there's a square piece of plastic that tips back and forth, instead of the little up-and-down American switch. Toilet paper is like American paper towels. Germans always close doors when they leave or come into rooms. They eat everything, including, for example, bread with cheese, with a knife and fork. Some of this stuff I knew before I came, some of it I'm just finding out.
We eat a lot of bread, and it's really good...lots of different stuff to put on it. Last night we discovered what Quark is--kind of a mix of sour cream, cream cheese, and cottage cheese. Lots of kinds of meat. Pop and juice come in 1 liter bottles.
I really like this host family. It's an older couple with no children. We haven't seen the man much cause he's sick, but his wife is great. She knows some English, so we have fun trying to explain things to each other. She says stuff like "You want to look TV?" and pronounces it "tee-wee", and "I was to home" for "at home" because that's what those phrases would be translating the words directly from German. I'm sure we sound like that to her though too. Last night we watched
Snow Falling on Cedars in German on TV.
Hmm, I suppose I could be making this more interesting to read, very witty and whatnot...actually it takes a little effort to not think in German, since I have been for two days straight.
Today we talked to the
Burgermeister (mayor, kind of) of Hoogstede, and also saw a
Grundschule (like an elementary). Then we went to another small town and saw a restored old windmill, and then drove across the border into the Netherlands, only 20 minutes or so. It was a really quaint little town. Everything here is built with bricks, and a lot of the streets are cobblestone. We walked around the Dutch town (can't remember offhand what it was called) and saw neat little cafes and a big beautiful church. I bought a scarf since it's pretty cold here and I didn't bring one. I haven't had a chance yet to change my dollars for euros, and the bank there was closed, so I asked the saleslady if my check card would work, and she said we'd just have to try. It worked, and thus completed my first interaction with an outsider of our group, I guess--you know, not guest family or anything. She spoke a Dutch version of German, same words but pronouncing them a little different. I could understand her fine, but I couldn't understand any other people I heard talking in Dutch. (If you know German, Dutch is pretty easy to read, but it sounds different.) It was strange; I felt
totally foreign.
Another girl and I were walking down the street (also much narrower here) and I happened to look over at a group of people our age. I guess my gaze lingered a little (they were dressed a little strangely--camouflage and piercings and dreds) because one of the guys said hello in Dutch. I said "Hallo" and they stopped and asked where we were from. I said America, and they said (in English) that they were from Italy. We talked a little, and they asked what we're doing tonight--they're going somewhere for a drink and wondered if we might want to come. Hehe. Too bad we have plans...kidding, of course; don't worry! We're actually going to the disco tonight (dance club) with some young people from the church that all our host families belong to. It's supposed to be "die beste Diskothek alle Deutschland" (the best in the country) so should be good, nein?
All right, genug. I think now I'll take a nap...love you all!!
Hoogstede, 6:14 pm
Hallo, alle! I'm at my first host family's after a very very long flight and four trains. We visited a castle in Bad Bentheim, a small town probly 20 min. from this small town. It was very old, and pretty interesting (we got a tour from the prince) but also very cold and rainy.
It's unreal to me that I'm here. I'm more tired from concentrating on understanding German than I am from the traveling, even though I didn't get very good sleep on the plane. This is all for now...I think they're going to feed us now, and plus it takes too long to type stuff on a German keyboard. Tschuss!
